"He’s a very complete player and right now he’s so strong mentally. He believes in himself so much and believes that he can beat everyone.

”His first serve is better than Rafa’s, but his second serve is worse. On the baseline he has an unbelievable backhand and the better you play against him, the better he plays."

Murray needs just 170 points to replace world No 3 Novak Djokovic - a feat he can almost certainly achieve as the Monte Carlo Masters gets underway. The point deficit separating him and Roger Federer currently stands at 2,180.

Asked how he would feel to lose his third spot ranking to the Scot, Djokovic replied saying it would be thoroughly deserved given Murray's form this season.

As he prepared to take on Oscar Hernandez in the second round at the Monte Carlo Masters, the Serbian said: "If it happens, it happens.

"And it's going to be deserved. He's been playing great tennis in the last 10 months and I think we're going to have a lot of great matches.

"I'm not really thinking about that, I'm thinking about my performance on the court."

Before getting his clay-court season underway against Romanian Victor Hanescu, Murray, for the second year running, has sought the advice of Alex Corretja as he adjusts his style to the challenges of the surface.

Knowing his performance needs to transform if he is ever going to reach the final eight of a clay-based tournament, Muray said: "I'm hitting the ball fine but it takes time to get used to movement.

"He (Corretja) just brings something that’s a bit different - tactically (there are things) that are fundamental on clay that he can just point out and help me with.

"It should be a good surface for me. Last year, I had some good wins but I lost to the very good clay-court players.

"I hope this year I can have the same sort of wins and maybe do better against the top guys.

“My expectations are a bit different. I’m trying to reach the quarter-finals and semi-finals of tournaments where I’ve never been past the second or third round before. That’s what’s exciting.”